A table for serving out food is a table that is used for systematically arranging or garnishing food on plates or dishes.
It is known that such tables for serving out food are often used in the field of catering, for example in big restaurants where in a short period of time a large number of plates need to be served out substantially equally. Tables for serving out food mainly consist of large tables, alongside which a plurality of persons can position themselves, generally standing, and across which plates or dishes are systematically moved by hand from one end to the other. Each person standing alongside the table carries out one of the required or desired acts of serving out food and pushes the plate or dish towards a next person.
Usually these tables are made as long as possible, in order to be able to fill a lot of plates or dishes in a short time period. However, the use of these tables is almost only necessary at the moment when the plates or dishes need to be served. At other times, such large tables may be seen as cumbersome because they take up space in the kitchen when they are not needed.
Furthermore, in the field of mobile events and catering, often no tables suitable for serving out food are present, or if any are present, they often are too small.
A portable or movable table for serving out food is known from Pavoni Italia under the trademark Spiattina®. It comprises a motor block onto which two pivotable arms are connected, each arm comprising a conveyor belt for transporting plates from one end of the table to another end thereof. In transport position, both arms are folded upwardly. In order to place the portable table in an operating position, the motor block is placed onto another, existing table, and both arms are brought in a substantially horizontal position. Each arm is provided with supporting legs which are placed onto the other table and which support the arms with the conveyor belts.
It is a disadvantage of the Spiattina® device that always another table having the right dimensions for supporting the motor block and the supporting legs needs to be present. Furthermore, when using the Spiattina® device, food to be put onto the plates needs to be stored on the table underneath the Spiattina® device, or one must hold it in his/her hand. This is not a very convenient way of working. Bending down to retrieve the food is not ergonomic and can result in back pain or tiredness.
Furthermore, in kitchens, and certainly in catering which is often carried out in places whit less stringent hygienic rules, a problem of food poisoning from contaminated food exists and is serious: many persons get ill and thousands die each year from this cause. Food poisoning is due to pathogens, e.g. bacteria, which are delivered in hotels and restaurants on consumer's plates. Some of these pathogens are dangerous: for example the bacteria Escherichia coli strain 0157 is potentially untreatable and may lead to renal failure, brain damage and death. Transfer of these bacteria often takes place by cross-contamination from contaminated meat to uncooked vegetables. It is therefore very important to keep kitchens and kitchen material as clean as possible and to disinfect kitchen material on a regular basis.